Suella Braverman, the UK Home Secretary who was vocal about her “aspirations” to cut the overall migration figure amid a growing clamour for the government to take control of immigration levels, has resigned after using her personal email for official duty.
In a letter addressed to UK’s prime minister Liz Truss and shared on Twitter, Braverman revealed that she sent a draft ministerial statement that had not been published from her personal email to a colleague to get support for her policy.
She noted that this was “a technical infringement of the rules”. The letter read;
“It is with the greatest regret that I am choosing to tender my resignation.
“Earlier today, I sent an official document from my personal email to a trusted parliamentary colleague as part of policy engagement, and with the aim of garnering support for government policy on migration. This constitutes a technical infringement of the rules.
“As you know, the document was a draft written ministerial statement about migration, due for publication imminently. Much of it had already been briefed to MPs. Nevertheless it is right for me to go.
“As soon as I realised my mistake, I rapidly reported this on official channels, and informed the cabinet secretary. As home secretary I hold myself to the highest standards and my resignation is the right thing to do.
“The business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes. Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we have made them, and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics. I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign.
“It is obvious to everyone that we are going through a tumultuous time. I have concerns about the direction of this government. Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this government’s commitment to honoring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration, particularly the dangerous small boats crossings.
“It has been a great honour to serve at the home office. In even the brief time that I have been here, it has been very clear that there is much to do, in terms of delivering on the priorities of the British people.
“They deserve policing they can respect, an immigration policy they want and voted for in such unambiguous numbers at the last election, and laws which serve the public good, and not the interests of selfish protestors.
“I am very grateful to all of my officials, special advisers and ministerial team for all of their help during my time as home secretary. I especially would like to pay tribute to the heroic policemen and women and
all those who work at border force and in our security services.
“To oversee Operation Bridges – the largest policing operation in a generation – was a great honour and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve. I wish my successor good luck.”